Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Périgord (1754–1838), Prince de Bénévent

Prud'hon's 1807 portrait of Talleyrand, now in the Musée Carnavalet, captures the most celebrated survivor of French political life at a moment of his greatest power: Talleyrand served Napoleon as Foreign Minister from 1799 to 1807, and this portrait was made in the year of his resignation from that role. Talleyrand's extraordinary career — priest, revolutionary politician, Napoleonic minister, and eventual architect of the Restoration — made him both fascinating and deeply ambiguous to contemporaries. Prud'hon, who rarely painted male portraits with the same investment he brought to his allegorical and female subjects, here produces a work of considerable psychological interest. The Carnavalet, Paris's museum of city history, holds the portrait as part of its comprehensive collection of depictions of historical figures connected to Parisian political life across the centuries.

The bust-length format with plain or architectural background focuses entirely on the sitter's face and bearing. Prud'hon renders the famous physiognomy — Talleyrand's known features, including the slightly lame posture — with his characteristic softness, avoiding the sharp linear definition that David's school imposed on official portraits while maintaining readable likeness.